One minute can change your world
by Linken88
Summary: A minute is a long time when it comes to the girl that is known to bully you. But sometimes it's not a bad minute, it can be a life-changing one.


A minute is a long time, sixty seconds, eighty heartbeats, or the best part of your favorite song. A lot can happen in a single minute. You can go from the predictable quiet nerd to someone spontaneous and romantic, or one of the biggest bullies on campus, to a blushing softy. But this tale isn't about that minute, this is about the seventy-two hours that led up to this particular minute.

* * *

Double D couldn't help but smile wide as he gathers up his school things from his desk, he's only a few days away from a trip that he's been excited about for weeks. As a junior in Peach Creek High, Double D was able to finally join the school's Academic Decathlon team, and they've made it into the final ten schools in the whole state of Oregon. Which meant that Double D and his team are in the state finals, a feat he was able to achieve before his fellow Cul-de-sac resident Kevin. With his notebooks and textbooks gathered, Double D makes a quick detour into the restroom on his family's house to make sure everything is in order with his attire for the day.

To congratulate their son, Double D's parents gave him a brand new pinstripe three-piece suit for him to wear to the competition. Double D loves the new suit, and couldn't wait to wear it, so he's donned parts of it for the day. Looking in the mirror, Double D couldn't help but admire how he looked. He didn't wear the jacket of the suit, but the vest and matching pants give him a mature look, but is softened by the faded and slightly tattered black ski cap on his head and the bow tie around his neck instead of a traditional tie.

"I have to say Eddward." Double D says to himself as he adjusts his bow tie. "We are looking rather dapper today."

* * *

As Double D walks out of the front door of his family's house, he doesn't realize that there is a little pep in his step, but one of the two teen boys standing by the green car parked on the road does.

"What's got you so peppy Sock Head?" The short boy in stonewashed jeans and a yellow polo shirt asks.

"What do you mean Eddy?" Double D asks as he retrieves his keys from his pocket.

Eddy points at Double D. "You were practically skipping down here, what, did one of your new fans give you a little macking last night or something?"

Double D knows what Eddy is talking about. "If you are referring to the young ladies that congratulated me, and the rest of the team, last week for making it to the state finals." Double D unlocks the driver's door of the car as he talks. "Then I will have to remind you, again, that; A, I don't know any of them personally, B, they were not paid to be there by any teacher like you think, C, there are women in this world that admire brains over brawns, and D, that academic competition is a real thing and is just as important to a school's credibility as football." Double D has been forced to remind his vertically challenged friend of these facts multiple times already. It's gotten to the point that Double D knows this rebuttal by heart it's happened so many times.

"Geeze." Eddy pulls the passenger door open on the green car and gets into the back, along with Double D and his other friend. "If I'd known you'd be preaching to me, I'd have just drove myself to school."

"But Eddy." The third occupant of the car says. "My mom said that you were grounded by your mom from driving because of your grades." The third occupant of the car is a simpleton some would say, But Double D and Eddy know there is more to Ed than what others see. Though the dirty jeans and equally dirty red and white striped shirt Ed has on would say otherwise.

Double D gives himself a quick victory smile. "Well then, it looks like you'll be joining Ed and I this afternoon for study group Eddy, we must get your grade up after all."

Eddy only responds with a groan as the engine roars to life under the hood of the car.

* * *

The three boys remain quiet as Double D drives down the streets to their school, it is a rule of Double D's to remain quiet as he drives, so he may maintain maximum awareness of the other cars on the road.

"We have arrived at our destination." Double D says as he kills the engine of his car. "You are now free to remove your safety restraints and exit the vehicle at your leisure."

Eddy almost jumps out of the car, eager to get out of the vehicle and away from Double D and the inevitable scolding he will get for his grade falling, again.

"Oh Eddy." Double D says as he makes sure that the door of his car is locked. "I hope you understand why your parents took away your-" Double D is cut short by Eddy.

"Look, I already got this lecture from my old man, I don't need you doing it too. I've got street smarts, not bookworm smarts."

"Is that why you got rich off of us as kids?" A voice asks from the other side of Double D's car. "Oh wait, that's right, none of your scams ever worked." The person the voice belongs to rests his crossed arms on the roof of Double D's car and grins.

"Good morning Kevin." Double D says, greeting the red-caped boy in basketball shorts and a green t-shirt.

"Sup Dub D, you ready to rep PCH next week?" Kevin asks looking away from the angered Eddy.

Surprising to Double D, Kevin didn't care that Double D made it to a state level competition finals before him, Kevin was just excited for the prospect of the school getting a trophy. "I am Kevin, and I thank you and Nazz for the support and votes of confidence you both have given me." Kevin, and his longtime girlfriend Nazz, are also friends with Double D, Eddy, and Ed, but not at the same level of friendship that the three Ed's have. The five of them, along with the a few other residents of the Cul-de-sac had a rough path to friendship when they were younger, but with time and maturity, the youths of the Cul-de-sac all eventually became close friends.

"Anyone that flies our orange and yellow gets our support." A blond girl with her hair pulled back by a black headband in a floral print summer dress joins Kevin on the opposite side of Double D's car.

"Good morning Nazz." Double D says, greeting the junior captain of the school's cheer squad.

"Morning Double D, I have to say you look rather fancy with your new duds." Nazz returns the greeting and gives Double D a compliment on his attire.

Her compliment fuels Double D's confidence for the day. "Thank you Nazz, its part of a gift from Mother and Father for the competition next week."

"Well you look dashing, and I'm sure you'll be turning heads all day." Nazz compliments Double D again as Kevin and her walk around to the front of the car hand in hand.

Double D waves his hand at his friend. "I'm sure that won't happen, and besides, you know that my primary focus is my education. The fairer sex is for after I finish my education." This isn't a vow Double D has had for his whole life, in his younger years he, and all the other boys in his grade, had a crush on Nazz herself. But unlike his friendship with the other youths of the Cul-de-sac, that only waned with time. School is Double D's primary focus, not to mention that he has little to no free time for himself at the moment, so a relationship would only take away his precious time to himself.

"I keep telling him that he needs to get a chick while the gettin is good." Eddy says as he follows the other teens out of the back parking lot of the school and towards the three-story school building.

"And it's that way of thinking Eddy." Nazz says as Kevin opens the door for her. "Is why you'll never get a girlfriend. We're not object to be claimed. We're human beings that need affection." Nazz gives Kevin a quick neck nuzzle as she spoke, eluding that Kevin is an affectionate boyfriend to her.

"I dunno Blondie." A voice echoes in the hallway of the school, chilling the blood of all five teens. "I kind of like the idea of Eddy owning me, means I own him."

The five teens have just walked into the presence of the three biggest, and toughest, bullies of Peach Creek High.

"Aww shit." Kevin says as he directs his girlfriend away from the Ed's and down an alternate route to their destination. "Best of luck guys, hope ya got all your shots up to date." Kevin says as he waves at the Eds.

"Go easy on Double D, we need him at his best for the Academic Decathlon competition next week." Nazz adds as the two young lovers walk away from their friends.

While the three teen girls standing in front of the Eds may be the top dog bullies of the school, so long as you didn't mess with them, or interfere with what they do to the Eds, then you are free of their wrath. Which is why Kevin and Nazz just walked away, it's better to just walk away and let the girls have their fun than to try and intervene.

"What the hell is a Academic Decathlon?" The tallest, and leader, of the trio asks, dressed in faded blue jeans and faded red T-shirt, looking from side to side, sending her red curls bouncing.

"Sounds like a race or something." Youngest and shortest of the girls says as she scratches at her scalp through her long platinum blond hair. She has a large gray hoodie on, covering all but the last few inches of her red shorts.

"No ya idiot." The third girl, and the middle of the trio, says pushing the blond away by her shoulder. "It's this test sport thing. My Dream Boat is going ta bring home the gold." The third girl has blue hair, with bangs covering her right eye

"What do you Kankers want?" Eddy demands, standing his grown in front of the girls.

The leader pinches her chin and speaks. "Hmm… What do we want, May is there anything you want?" she looks down at the blond girl.

May nods and fixes her eyes on Ed. "I want a piece of my man, Lee."

"That sounds like a good idea, what about you Marie?" Lee looks over at the blue-haired girl.

"Well, seeing as I want him ta win next week, I'll settle with just a kiss from my boyfriend." Marie says as she also locks her eyes on Double D.

"Ya know, I kinda like your ideas, good on ya girls." Lee locks her own eyes on Eddy. "But I think I'll just have a LITTLE snack before class."

Lee chose the word intentionally, she knows it will get a reaction from Eddy, and he does react. "I'm not little!" Eddy yells at Lee, showing that he is sensitive to comments on his height.

The Kanker's start to walk towards the Eds, not taking their eyes off of their targets. "Well Eddy, why don't ya show me what a BIG man you are." Lee says with a wicked grin on her face.

The three girls starting to walk towards the Eds was their signal, it was time to run for their lives. "Leg it boys!" Eddy yells as he takes off down the hall that Kevin and Nazz went down.

Ed, being the simple-minded boy that he is, follows Eddy down the same hall yelling and screaming about cooties.

Lee moves to follow Eddy, with May right behind her. "Heh, who needs Pilates when ya got men that like ta be chased." Lee says as the two begin their chase.

Normally, Double D would try to run away from the Kankers as well, but he didn't want to damage his new clothing when the inevitable tackle from Marie came, he is not a very good runner. "Marie, please." He says as he takes a step backward from the teen in green cargo pants and a sleeveless black shirt with a skull spray painted on the front. "This is a brand new outfit, my parents would be furious if it was to get damaged." Marie uses her own steps to manipulate where Double D backed away, step by step she is able to get him to turn and eventually back in the wall. "If you know about the Academic Decathlon, then you must surely know that any extra stress I may endure will only hinder my perfor-"

 ***slam***

Marie slams her hands against the wall on both sides of Double D's head, cutting him off as he pleaded with her. "I get your test thing is important Muffin." Marie leans close, Double D can smell her Krankshaft No.5 perfume she is so close. "Which is why." She is only inches away from Double D, their bodies too close for his liking. "I'm just going ta leave you with this." She leans her head down to his neck and bites him. She isn't attempting to break his skin, only to leave a mark on him that will last a day or two. The bite somehow immobilizes Double D, he is frozen stiff from shock.

Marie pulls away from Double D, satisfied with her attack on his neck. "Ya look really sexy by the way." She says turning to walk away. "So good I could EAT ya." Marie emphasizes as she walks away, swaying her hips in self satisfaction.

Double D stays against the wall for several minutes after Marie walks away, unable to process the attack. Marie isn't the most aggressive out of her sisters, that titles falls to her little sister May, but Marie knows how to leave an impression.

* * *

Double D can still smell the "fresh cut spring flowers strewn across a babbling brook with a hint of lemon", as Ed once described the perfume, as he walks to class, and the smell will be with him all day. But the bite mark Marie left on his neck is going to be around for at least two days. 'I hope the mark is gone before Mother and Father get back Sunday night.'

* * *

Double D didn't see any more of Marie that day, say for the select few classes they share, and he took his blessing as it came.

Eddy and Ed were held back by their final class teacher after the end of the day bell rang, so Double D walks out of the school alone and into the parking lot to wait for them by his car. As he looks around for moving vehicles to avoid, his eyes fall on someone kneeling by the side of the road that runs along the back of the school. Worried that the person may be injured, Double D changes his direction and hastens his step towards the person kneeling.

Double D realizes who it is before he got too close, it is Marie Kanker kneeling by the road. Instinctively, Double D slows his pace, not wanting to be caught off guard by Marie. But then he hears her speak, and his concern is back to where it was before.

"This is bad, really really bad. I don't know what ta do."

Double D speaks before getting close enough to see what is in front of Marie. "Marie, is something wrong?" He asks, his good nature and kind heart outweighing his fear of the girl.

Marie looks up at him, and he sees why she is kneeling, a small cat lies on the side of the street wriggling in pain. The fear in Marie's eyes says all he needs to know, an animal has been injured, and he needs to help.

Lighting fast, Double D pulls out his smartphone and quickly flies through the contacts as he kneels down next to Marie. Having helped his friend Rolf with animal emergencies in the past, Double D already has a phone number to an emergency veterinarian's office in his list of contacts. "Hello, my friends cat has just been injured." Double D says into his phone when the line is answered as he starts to look the cat over. Double D doesn't see any major signs of bleeding, only that the cat can't seem to stand and its back leg is sticking out at an odd angle.

"Marie, what happened?" Double D asks, having been asked what happened to the cat from the person on the other line.

Marie never expected Double D of all people to offer help, so she is a little taken back by the situation playing out in front of her. "He was running across the road ta me, and a car came speeding by and clipped him." She says, controlling her aw over Double D helping her.

"The cat was clipped by a speeding car." Double D repeats into his phone. "No I don't see any blood. His right back leg is protruding out at an unnatural angle." Double D answers the questions asked of him through his phone. "Yes. I am unaware. Twenty minutes, if traffic allows. Yes, ok, thank you." Double D end the call and slips his phone back into his pocket, and then says the kindest and nicest thing he has ever said to Marie Kanker; "I need you to pick him up carefully Marie and follow me."

"Why?" Marie asks as Double D stands up from the ground.

"We need to get the cat to a veterinarian as soon as we can, and I can't hold him as I drive."

* * *

Marie has always wanted to ride in Double D's car, her aggressive crush on him gave her that desire when she saw him in it for the first time, but she never thought it would be like this, her holding an injured cat in her arms as he drives the both of them to a veterinarian's office. "Thank you, Double D…" She says in a half whisper. But he either didn't hear her, or chose to ignore her for the time being, because he doesn't respond back.

The two teens remain quiet for the rest of the short drive to the veterinarian's office. Once they are parked in the lot in front of the office, Double D jumps out of his door and races around to Marie's to open it for her. Another act she's wanted from Double D is checked off her list as she steps out of his car. Double D quickly closes the car door and then rushes to the door of the veterinarian's office and pulls it open. Marie has never seen urgency like this from Double D, and she couldn't help but find it attractive as she passé him into the office.

Double D rushes past Marie to the counter. "Hello, I just called about an injured cat." He says to the woman in nursing scrubs sitting behind the count.

The woman stands from her chair and walks around to the opening on the side. "Yes, we are almost ready for you, but you can take your pet in now." She moves to lead Double D and Marie through a pair of swinging black doors with haste.

Double D, again, holds the door open for Marie, making it easier for her to carry the injured cat into the back. They follow the woman down a hall and into an emergency care room. "Lay the cat down on the table." The woman says as a man in a white lab coat walks in from a different door.

The man goes to work right away examining the cat. "What happened to him?" He asks, not taking his eyes off of his patient.

"He got hit by a car." Marie says, her eyes full of worry for the cat. "He was running across the street and some dick wad clipped him."

The man moves to examine the cat's protruding leg. "I see. Nurse, prep the ultrasound and have them wait outside."

The nurse does as she's asked and ushers Marie and Double D out of the room and back down the hall. "Cathy, can you get them a set of forms, it's from room 1A." the nurse says to another nurse sitting at a desk in a small room.

* * *

Marie and Double D sit in silence in the waiting room, Marie doing her best to fill out the paperwork, and Double D is trying to get a grip on what he just did.

Seeing the injured cat sent him into action, wanting to help the animal had overridden his fear of the girl he is sitting next to. He didn't even know that Marie likes cats, let alone has one of her own. "Marie." Double D finally breaks the silence between them. "Why was your pet wandering around freely outside by our school?" He doesn't wish to scold her, he is just curious about how the cat got where it did.

Marie stops answering the questions on the paper. "He, not really my pet." She looks over to Double D. "I see him all the time after school, and he knows I'll feed him scraps if I see him." She pulls out a piece of sliced ham from her pocket, a leftover from the cold ham and cheese sandwiches the school offered for lunch that day. "I never thought I'd get him hurt, I just felt kinda bad for the pore stray."

Double D has felt a lot of emotions about Marie, exclusively negative ones, but never has he ever felt pity and compassion for her. "I'm… sure the doctor will be able to fix your friend Marie." He doesn't know what else to say. If it had been any of his other friends, Double D would attempt a pat on the back or a comforting hug to try and help calm them, but this is Marie Kanker, someone he is normally afraid of.

"I hope you're right." Marie says with a sniffle.

Before Double D could attempt to ease Marie's worry again, the double doors swing open and the Veterinarian that came to care for the cat walks out. "I have good news and bad news." The Veterinarian says, pulling the blue gloves off of his hands.

Marie jumps up from her seat. "What's the bad news?" She asks, her fear for the stray cat rising.

The veterinarian clasps his hands behind his back. "Your male feline's leg is broken and will need to be in a cast for six weeks."

Double D stands up from his chair. "And the good new Sir?"

The Veterinarian turns to Double D. "he doesn't seem to have suffered any other major injuries, some minor cuts and scrapes, but they will heal."

"So he's going ta be ok?" Marie is relieved to hear that the cat only has a broken leg.

The Veterinarian turns back to Marie and gives her a smile, this is the part of his job that he loves, the look of the owners when he tells them that their pet is going to be ok. "Yes, he's going to be fine, though I would like to keep him overnight for observation, in case something we didn't catch appears, and to get him the shots he is in need of. Your boyfriend getting him here as quickly as he did saved him from any permanent damage."

At the mention of being her boyfriend, Double D's desire to be distant with Marie kicks in. "We are not a couple." Double D takes a step away from Marie. "I just saw the injured cat and wanted to help." He takes another step away from Marie.

Marie looks over to Double D stepping away from her. "Yeah, he just gave me a ride, we're not even that good of friends." Marie didn't want to force any discomfort on to the boy that helped save her friend, so she gives him the distance that she knows he wants.

"Oh, well then, your care for animals is truly a redeeming feature Youngman." The Veterinarian says not turning away from Marie. "So once you're finished with the paperwork, we can take you back and you can see him." The Veterinarian turns and walks away from the two teens, leaving them to let the reality of their situation set in.

A thought comes to Double D, one that he should have considered before taking Marie and the cat to the veterinarian. "Um, Marie." He says feeling a little guilty for the question he is about to ask. "Are you able to cover the cost of all of this?"

Marie looks at Double D again in aw again over how he is treating her. "I have some cash saved up, so I think I can."

"Oh, ok…" Double D rubs the back of his neck, he never thought he would be having an uncomfortable conversation like this with Marie. "Well, if you are no longer in need of my assistance, I will take my leave."

Marie is sad that Double D wants to leave, she likes that he is near her of his own volition. "Oh, ok… I guess it would be better if my Ma picked me up, I'll need ta explain everything to her."

Double D takes a timid step away from Marie. "Well, um… best of luck with your mother, and I hope your furry friend recovers."

"Hey um, Double D." Marie says, stopping her crush from walking further away. "Thanks, for you know, caring enough ta help me save my friend."

Double D rubs the back of his neck again. "Well, I could never turn my back on an innocent animal in distress."

"I get that, but I'm thanking you, for helping me, not for helping the cat." Marie feels her cheeks warm, a feeling she rarely ever feels.

"Well then, you are welcome, Marie." Double D grasps the handle of the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must take my leave."

* * *

Double D walks to his car, opens the door, and sits down in the driver's seat. Only once he is away from Marie, and alone, does everything he has just done come back to hit him. "I just gave Marie Kanker a ride in my car." He says covering his face with his hands as anxiety fills him. "She could have attacked me, and I would have been helpless to escape." Double D's fear of Marie isn't always active, only when she forces herself onto him or bullies him does he fear her. 'But she didn't.' A voice in his head says. 'She treated us like any other person would.'

"She must really care for that cat…" Double D pulls his hands away from his face, finally starting to calm down.

With calm returning to him, Double D pulls his phone out of his pocket, curious as to how much time has passed. He sees that over an hour has passed since he got out of school, but also that he has several unread messages, all from Eddy.

"Oh dear." Double D says as he taps on the messages notification and starts to read Eddy's messages.

"Hey DD, did you move your car?"

"Dude, where the hell are ya? We've been looking all over the school."

"What the heck man! Did you ditch us?"

"This is so fucked up man, some friend you are."

Double D closes his eyes and rests his head back, Eddy is clearly overreacting, again. Double D inhales slowly, taking a deep breath to calm himself, but as he does, he smells that faint hint of fresh cut spring flowers strewn across a babbling brook with a hint of lemon Marie left him that morning, and in his car from her ride with him. He takes another inhale of the perfume, it's a smell he knows all too well, but he's never noticed how relaxing it actually is for him. Which is probably due to him only smelling it when he is afraid for his own well being.

After a brief moment to gather his thoughts, Double D opens the contacts in his phone and calls Eddy, preferring to talk to people over the phone rather than messaging.

"It's about damn time." Double D hears Eddy say when the call is answered.

"I apologize for leaving you and Ed behind at school Eddy, but something came up that needed me to leave the school in great haste." Double D chose to forgo telling Eddy about giving Marie a ride to the veterinarian's office.

"What could be more important than your Bros needing a ride?"

Double D looks over to the seat that Marie had just occupied in his car. "It was a humanitarian need Eddy, someone needed transportation immediately, and I was the only person available."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Eddy doesn't seem to care for a reason why Double D left the school without them. "Just get over here, me and Lumpy are waiting for our ride." Eddy ends the call before Double D can respond.

Double D sighs, takes another inhale of the perfume that is lingering in the air, and then starts his car.

* * *

Double D's life runs on clockwork precision whenever he can. He awakes at nine in the morning with only one sound of his alarm. He is out of bed and has the bedding back in perfect placement five minutes after waking, and is showered and dressed twenty minutes after that. So every morning at 9:25 he is walking down the stairs of his family's house ready for the day. With it being Saturday he is in his weekend clothing of blue jeans and an orange t-shirt, eager for his morning meal.

"Good morning Eddward." A note Double D's mother left for him on the fridge reads. "I am leaving you this note as a reminder to mow the lawn Saturday morning, and to make sure that the trashcans are by the curb Sunday night. Have a pleasant weekend and your father and I will see Monday morning. All of our love, Mother and Father."

Double D read this note when he got home the night before, but he still looked it over again to make sure he knew what was asked of him. His mother and father have upgraded from leaving post-it notes all over the house to longer notes in select points in the house. Double D takes down the note and folds it up before slipping it into his back pocket.

* * *

Minutes later, sticking to his stick timeline schedule, Double D has his precisely measured cereal, an exact sixteen ounces of orange juice, and a bowl of exactly seven raspberries laid out in front of him at the table in the kitchen of his family's house. "A perfect breakfast." Double D says as he picks up his spoon. "For an enjoyable Saturday."

* * *

Double D eats his morning meal in the exact amount of time that he has perfected too, and is now washing up the few dishes he dirtied. 'I hope Marie was able to get home safely.' The same voice in his head from the day before says. 'Maybe we should have waited with her until her mother arrived.' Double D shakes his head violently when this thought came to him.

"What are you even thinking Eddward? Marie, and her sisters, have proven to be people that we shouldn't trust." Double D scolds himself as he holds a finger up, as if he was talking to another person. "We went well above and beyond to assist her yesterday. We helped save the life of an injured animal, we did our good deed."

* * *

Double D pushes his father's push mower in perfect lines over the grass of the front lawn, humming a repetitive three-note tune in sync with the motor of the mower. Double D doesn't mind this chore his parents have laid out for him to do on a regular schedule, granted every task his parents give him he enjoys. But making sure the grass is cut to perfection is one that he enjoys most of all. There is something to the smell of the cut grass, the sounds of nature as he works outside, and the serenity of being away from almost everything in the world that just centers Double D.

'I should maybe consider offering my services to the other families of the Cul-de-sac in cutting their lawn, it would be a way for me to earn a little extra money to help pay for my schooling expenses.' Double D thinks to himself as a blond girl is running clothing stops running in front of his house.

"Hey Double D." Nazz says as she starts to check her heart rate.

Double D stops his mowing and turns off the motor, not wanting to have to speak about it. "Good morning Nazz, I hope you had a fruitful run today."

Nazz pulls her hand away from her wrist, satisfied with her beats per minute. "Not a record breaker yet, but we both know how important cardio is."

"Is your record still the time a stray dog chased you home?" Double D asks, remembering a tail Nazz once told a few years back.

"It got me motivated to leg it home, so I'm counting it as my record." Nazz grins, she still worries that another dog may chase he again someday, but she doesn't let that stop her from sticking to her workout routine. "So are you going to the mall later today?" She adds.

"Well, I should stay home and review for the competition, but we both know Eddy is going to be showing up here around 12:30 wanting to go, so I will be making an appearance at the mall later today." Going to the mall and spending all Saturday afternoon there with no shopping agenda is the thing that the Cul-de-sac teens do every weekend. Double D understands that being "Mall Rats" all day is just a waste of their time and that the teens all could find more productive activities, but Double D likes spending time with his group of friends. Their days as adolescence youths are numbered, and he wants them all to have fond memories to look back on down the road. So he hangs around the food court and looks at the same shops with the same items for sale, never buying any, every week so that when he and his friends all start to move away, he too can look back at the simpler times he once had in life.

"Cool." Nazz grins, also knowing that bonding with the other teens is important. "Kev and I will see you there then. I heard that the Jamba Juice has a new flavor."

Double D hides his chuckle, only Nazz would be excited for a new flavor of juice. "See you there. Now if you'll excuse me." Double D moves to turns the mower on again. "I need to finish my task with time to get ready for the outing."

* * *

Double D wishes Eddy had let him drive the three teen boy to the mall, but his mother lets him drive for the weekends, in case she needed him to run errands, so he wouldn't let Double D even unlock his own car. Eddy's old 90's jeep has all of the detachable panels removed, outdated seatbelts, and no airbags in case of a wreck. And the way that Eddy drives, Double D is sure that it is only a matter of time before Eddy crashers his car.

"How again did you pass your Skills and Road Knowledge test again Eddy?" Double D asks once the jeep has pulled into a parking spot in the parking garage of the mall.

Eddy spins his car keys around his finger, being able to legally drive is one of the few things he is most proud of. "Old half blind instructor and my mom's slow boarding minivan."

Double D pinches the brim of his nose. "I need to remember to ask Mother and Father about getting life insurance for myself." He says as Eddy and Ed walk ahead of him into the mall.

The mall is the newest addition to the Peach Creek area, having been built only a few years back. And being so new of an establishment, the mall is the go-to place for a majority of the residents of the suburban town.

"Why are there always so many damn people here?" Eddy demands as he looks around the mall full of people.

"Well, some are here for shopping agenda, and others are here as we are, to waste the day away doing nothing." Double D answers, as he walks into the mall and stands next to Eddy.

"But this is our hang out, not there's." Eddy argues back.

Double D knows that there is no point in trying to argue with Eddy about this, instead he opts to change the focus of his mind. "Let us go and see if we can find Nazz and Kevin, I'm sure they will be near the Jamba Juice."

* * *

"Hey guys." Nazz waves at the three Eds from one of the few small tables in front of the juice shop.

"Afternoon lady, and gentlemen." Double D greets the four teens sitting around the table before either of his companions.

"Greetings fellow Space Rangers from the Milky Way Galaxy, how fares your travels?" Ed asks, quoting a line from the movie he watched the night before. All of the teens look at Ed, even after all the years that have passed they are still caught off guard by the things that come out of his mouth.

"So, hey gang." Eddy says, having lost his train of thought. "What's up?"

"We're just jamming on the new flavor." The youngest of the group of teens says, overly excited as he always is. The young boy is over eager about his drink, spilling drops on his white T-shirt and black shorts as he drinks from it.

"Rolf does not agrees with the Jonny No-More-Wood-Boy." The eldest of the group says. "These fruit things are not jams, they are drinks." Over the years Rolf has caught onto many of the phrases that is used by the rest of the teens he spends time with, but he doesn't know what all of them fully mean.

"It's just a saying Rolf." Nazz holds a giggle back as she talks to older teen in his farm worn plaid button up shirt and jeans. "It just means that Jonny likes the new juice flavor."

"Then why did he not say so? Your words of play confuse Rolf." Rolf says before taking a drink from his own cup of blended juice.

* * *

The group of teens move from shop to shop, looking at a wide range of items, but never buy. Double D tried to convince the group to go into the bookstore in the mall, but he was outvoted to even go in by two to five, Nazz was on his side of wanting to go into the bookstore.

"No one cares about lame books Sock Head." Eddy says as the rest of the teen leave Double D behind in front of the bookshop.

Double D sighs. 'Someday I will get you interested in reading.' He slips his hands into his pockets and starts to follow his friends.

* * *

Double D finds that he has less interest in the shops his friends were going into, letting his mind drift as he mindlessly follows the group around. His mind goes to his packing for his trip, remembering a few things he is going to need to pick up. He thinks about the competition, and of the types of questions he's been preparing for. And, as his friends move into the food court, he remembers the smell of Marie's perfume from the day before. He has no idea why his mind brought up the smell of fresh cut spring flowers strewn across a babbling brook with a hint of lemon, but he isn't going to complain, it's, surprisingly, an enjoyable memory. It's not a memory like the ones he has with Eddy an Ed, and nor is it like the memories he has of family events, it is more of a memory of a feeling, of the calm he got from the smell.

"Where do you guys want to eat?" Nazz ask as the teens look around at all the mini restaurants around the large seating area.

"I want a burger!" Jonny yells out, excited as always.

"Me and Lumpy are with Baldy." Eddy points to Ed beside him as he talks.

Rolf looks at the three boys that have already called out their choice of food. "Ground cattle between bread is not a fit meal choice. Lucky for you, Rolf has packed a jar of Nana's pickled fish heads and cabbage." Rolf pulls a jar from his pocket, causing all the teens around him to step away just from the smell coming from the jar.

"I'm feeling more like some chicken." Kevin pinches his nose, needing to stop the smell of the jar from getting him sick.

Nazz looks away from the jar Rolf has in his hand, unable to even look at the lifeless eyes of the fish heads. "Well, I want a salad, red meat is bad for me."

Double D mulls all of his friends preferences in food over in his head as he looks at the restaurants available to them. 'Burgers, chicken, and salad.' He thinks. He eyes fall on a sign with a big yellow glowing M and a light turns on in his head.

"There is a place that has options for all of your preferences friends." Double D points off in the direction of the sign. "All be it isn't the highest quality."

* * *

Double D forced Eddy and Ed to wash their hands before getting in line, so the three Eds didn't join the others in the line at the same time.

"Ugh." Eddy groans as the line slowly moves along. "Why did everyone get in this line? And why did you make us go wash our hands?"

"We have been browsing several different shops and handling a wide range of items Eddy." Double D holds his finger up as he talks. "Our hands were most certainly covered if foreign pathogens, and if we are going to maintain our health, then we mustn't eat with unclean hands. And this is one of the most popular restaurant chains in the world, so it is going to naturally be busy"

Eddy covers his face with his hands, he knows that Double D is right, but he doesn't want to admit to it.

"Hey guys." Nazz says as Kevin and her walk past the Eds with the tray of their food. "You might want to go to a different place."

"Why?" Double D asks. "Did something happen at the counter?"

"No, I just don't think-" Nazz gets cut off by Kevin.

"Come on babe, don't spoil the surprise." Kevin says as he starts to pull Nazz away. "Let them find out on their own."

Nazz follows Kevin away from their friends. "You're such an ass Kev." She says to her boyfriend before looking back to the Eds. "Be careful guys."

"What is Nazz talking about?" Eddy asks looking to Double D for answers.

Double D tries to decipher what Nazz said, but her warning was too vague for him to find anything in it. "I have no idea Eddy, maybe they ran out of ketchup."

* * *

It takes nearly ten minutes, but the boys are finally next in line, the restaurant is really busy, so it is taking a long time for customers to be served, just like Double D assumed.

The person standing in front of Eddy starts to move."It's about damn- ah crud…" Eddy started to say, but then saw something he dreaded. The person in front of them moved enough for the Eds to see the ordering counter. Standing behind the counter, in a black polo and matching visor cap is Marie Kanker, taking orders from the patrons of the restaurant.

"What is she doing here?" Eddy demands as the person ahead of them orders.

Double D is the most concerned out of all three of them, but he is also the most level-headed. She may be Marie Kanker, the girl that can scare him with just a look, but if she spent the effort to get a job, then she isn't going to risk losing it just to mess with them. "She's working Eddy." Double D says, giving Eddy a push to start walking.

Marie looks up from the register at sees the Eds, and the smile she's been forcing on drops to a glare. "Ah shit." She says under her breath as the Eds start to move towards the counter.

Eddy sees the look on Marie's face. "She doesn't look happy to see us." He grins as an idea comes to him. Where Marie couldn't cause trouble, Eddy isn't beholden to the rules of customer service.

Marie takes a deep breath as the Eds reach the counter. "Welcome to McDonald's, can I take your order?"

Eddy grins wide as he leans on the counter with one elbow. "Hmm… What do I want…" He scratches his chin. "Maybe a burger…na, something else… hmm..."

"Sir." Marie holds back her frustration. "There is a long line, can ya please order and move along, quickly."

Eddy stands up and raises his voice. "Hey, I'm a paying customer." His louder voice catches the attention of others working in the restaurant. "And I demand the respect that comes with it."

Marie's eye twitches, she would very much love to just punch Eddy. "I'm sorry, sir. I am only trying to keep the flow going."

"Well I never!" Eddy yells grinding. "I demand to speak to your manager!"

Marie's face goes from being annoyed, to dread, she knows that Eddy is sure to get her fired if he talks to her manager. "There is no need for the manag-"

"Is everything alright up here Marie?" A man in a pink a blue striped dress shirt, something that even Double D finds a crime to fashion, asks as he walks up to the counter.

"This lady is-"Double D couldn't let Eddy go on anymore, so he covers Eddy's mouth with his hands.

"There is nothing wrong sir." Double D says as Eddy tries to fight out of his hands. "We just wanted to compliment your employee on how well of a job she is doing."

"Oh." The manager seems surprised by the compliment. "Well I appreciate you taking the time to praise my new worker, but we do have a line of people that might not appreciate you taking the time to do so."

Double D continues to keep Eddy from speaking. "I understand." He turns to Marie, who has a shocked look on her face. "We'll take two cheeseburgers, a salad, and three small diet Cokes, please."

Double D quickly pays for the food, not wanting to give Eddy a chance to belittle Marie again.

"What the hell man?" Eddy demands once Double D let go of him. "Why the hell would you stand up for her?"

"Because Eddy." Double D pusses Eddy along away from Marie and to the pickup counter. "It is impolite to harass anyone working in customer service."

Eddy crosses his arms in anger at Double D. "But it wasn't anyone, that was a Kanker."

Double D pinches the brim of his nose. "Ok, look at it like this. You want to get a job this summer, correct?"

"Yeah." Eddy nods.

"Then if you set the precedent that it is ok for you to bother Marie at her place of employment, what is there to stop Lee from retaliating against you at your future job?"

The idea of Lee harassing him at his future job hits Eddy, and the color runs from his face. But he quickly recovers and does what he does best, lie about it. "Yeah right, Lee would never do something like that."

"But Eddy." Ed had remained quiet for most of the day, lost in the strange worlds his imagination creates. "You said that the Kankers have been meaner to us. Why wouldn't she do that?"

"Shut up Lumpy." Eddy glares at Ed. "What do you know?"

"That the Kankers are smarter than us." Ed's eyes cross as he talks. "They know things, things that no mortal should. They may have even made a pact with the deep ancient ones that once ruled this world."

Eddy and Double D both look at Ed with a raised eyebrow as a tray of their food is set down on the counter by them. "Ed, no more Lovecraftian comic books before bed." Double D says, picking up the tray.

* * *

The Eds join Nazz, Kevin, Jonny, and Rolf at a table in the seating area. "So how's your lady doing?" Kevin asks as the boys sit down at the table.

"Ha ha." Double D fakes a laugh very obviously. "You know very well that I have no romantic relations with Marie Kevin."

Kevin grins, he may be their friend, but he still enjoys picking on the Eds. "Maybe you should. Who knows, maybe you'll like her wild ride once ya get on."

Double D's face turns red at Kevin's statement, but it is Nazz that speaks up. "Kevin, be nice." She playfully punches her boyfriend. "You know that Double D just isn't ready for girls."

"Double the Ed Boy." Rolf points at Double D with a spork. "You should not be afraid of girls, they are important in a young life."

"Rolfs right." Eddy slaps Double D on the back. "You need a chick in your life."

Double D wishes he was a turtle right now, he would love to be able to hide his head in his body. But he is not a turtle, and he is going to suffer ridicule from his friends for the rest of their meal.

* * *

"We'll see ya rabbits at the arcade." Eddy says as everyone, except Double D and Nazz, walk away from the table. Double D and Nazz are still eating their salads, wanting to enjoy their meals unlike the others that inhaled their food so fast that they may not have even tasted it.

Double D looks down at his salad, he still has more than a third to eat, having been embarrassed by his friends too much to eat at points. "I sometimes wonder." He says as he pierces selective leaves with his plastic fork. "Why I am friends with Eddy and Ed."

"Oh that is easy." Nazz takes a drink from her bottle of water before continuing. "You keep Eddy's ego in check, but he also keeps you from being overly smug smart, and Ed keeps the both of you from growing up too fast."

Double D is amazed at Nazz's analysis of his friendship with Eddy and Ed. "That is rather impressive Nazz."

Nazz points to herself with her plastic fork. "Future Psychology Major remember, gotta start observing and diagnosing human behavior early."

Double D has always found that Nazz is someone that he can talk to without worrying about being ridiculed or made fun of. "Well, I'm sure you will succeed in the subject once we are off in college." He says as he rearranges the leaves in his bowl. "It is refreshing to know that real life is getting closer. No longer having to worry about the trivial things of the now is something I long for."

Nazz looks past Double D for the briefest of moments. "Sometimes things we think are trivial now." She stands up from the table and quickly gathers up her trash. "Can be life-changing moments, like giving someone a ride." Nazz quickly walks away from the table, leaving Double D perplexed at her statement.

But his confusion is forgotten when the reason Nazz looked past Double D moves into his vision. Marie walks into view, holding a tray with a salad, just like the one Double D is still eating, and a soda on it.

"Can I talk to ya, for a quick minute?" Marie asks, asking what very might be the first real question she's ever asked of Double D.

"Ma-ma- rie." Double D stammers at the sudden appearance of the blue-haired girl. "Wha-at did yo-ou want to, talk, about?" He was not expecting her to approach him after he stopped Eddy from getting her in trouble and almost falls off his chair.

Marie doesn't set her tray down, she doesn't want to sit with Double D, just quickly talk. "I don't have much time for a lunch break, but I just wanted ta say thanks. For yesterday and today. Ya didn't have ta do it, but ya were nice ta me."

Double D has rarely seen both of Marie's eyes. Her right is always covered by hair, and the few times he has seen it was brief, but the visor cap she has on is keeping her bangs off her face enough for him to see both of her green eyes. As he looks at them, he couldn't help but find them a little alluring. "I only did what any decent person would have done." He has calmed down enough to not stutter. "And it was horribly rude for Eddy to do that to you."

"Well, it was still cool of ya. And I figured, that since you were nice ta me, that maybe I'll be nice ta you for a bit." Double D can't see it, but there is a faint red hew coming to Marie's cheeks.

"Be nice?" Double D asks, unable to look away from her eyes.

"As in I'll leave ya alone for a while. Not mess with ya at school and stuff." Marie clarifies.

"Oh." Double D finally gets it. "Well then, thank you Marie."

Marie turns to walk away from Double D. "No probs."

A question comes to Double D before Marie can take her first step. "Oh Marie." He says stopping her from walking away. "If you don't mind me asking, what did your mother say about your feline friend?"

Marie turns back around to face Double D. "She said that I have ta take care of him and clean up his crap, but I can keep him in the trailer."

Double D can see the joy and excitement in Marie's eyes, and that pushes him to do something out of character. "Well that is good to hear." He pulls the note his mother left for him that morning out of his back pocket and a pen from his front. "If the situation ever arises that you are in desperate need of transportation." He starts to quickly jot down ten numbers onto the bottom of the paper. "Then consider asking me." He rips the part of the note with his personal number down off of the rest and holds it out to Marie.

Marie's eyes are wide at just the sight of the scrap of paper, and she is hesitant to even take it, but slowly she reaches for it as if she is taking a sacred idol from a pedestal.

But just as she is about to touch the paper, Double D pulls it back slightly. "Please don't use this gesture against me, I would rather not look back on this as a mistake."

Marie can hardly muster up the words. "I won't." She says, not taking her eyes off the scrap. Slowly Double D lowers the paper back down and into Marie's reach. She takes the paper eagerly. "Thanks." She says before quickly walking away, needing to hide how red she is becoming.

Double D watches her walk away to a table away from him. "I really hope I didn't just set myself up for a big mistake in the future." He says before taking a deep inhale. As he inhales, he smells it again, that smell of fresh cut spring flowers strewn across a babbling brook with a hint of lemon. Marie is wearing her Krankshaft No.5 perfume again, and it is having its strange new effect on him again. 'She has rather astonishing eyes.' The voice in his head says. 'One could even say attractive.'

Double D shakes his head. "Stop your nonsense brain." He says quietly enough that no one around him could have heard. "You are starting to get out of control."

Double D was looking at his salad as he had this thought, but as he talks to himself he looks up, and unintentionally, he looks across the tables at Marie and is a little perplexed at what he is seeing.

With one hand Marie is shoveling her salad into her mouth, and the other is holding a small book open for her to read. Curious, Double D squints to make out the cover, and when his eyes adjusted, he sees that it is a book on caring for a pet cat. "Well I'll be." He says amazed at the sight of Marie reading. "She must really care for that former stray cat."

Double D didn't see it, or even notice what part of the note his mother left him he tore off, but when Marie goes to hide the number away that night, she sees what is written on the other side, and when she sees the words; "All of our love" on the flip side of his phone number, she will feel the pounding of her heart all night.

* * *

Double D finishes his meal, only taking a handful of quick glances at Marie. Some of the looks he took of Marie were to make sure she was still eating and not paying him any mind, but some, only a few, were to just look at her. Like him, Marie has grown over the years, but where he has grown taller and kept his thin and lacking muscle shape, Marie has grown into a far more noticeable adult shape than him, a near-perfect balance between the curvy Lee and petite May. Double D never noticed until now, but Marie has grown into an attractive young woman, she could even rival Nazz on physical attractiveness if her aggressive personality didn't drive any that made the mistake of looking at her away in fear.

Double D shakes his head as his cheeks feel warm. 'What in the name of science are you thinking Eddward?' He demands of himself, but doesn't answer. In the back of his mind, Double D knows that he wouldn't like the answer to that question, so instead he just quickly gathers up his trash and leaves the food court.

* * *

The arcade was a project pushed by the Peach Creek governing body as a way to keep teenagers out of trouble in the city, and it worked. The games are cheap to play, the soda was unlimited refills, all be it watered down, and the adults running the arcade let the teens hang around without playing any games. So naturally the place is full of teens.

"Over here Double D!" Nazz yells, waving from the row of racing games.

Double D spots his friends and makes his way through the crowd of teens, letting the thoughts of Marie fade away. "Greetings friends." He says once he finally makes it over to them. "So, who's winning?"

Nazz turns back to the arcade cabinets. "Who do you think?" She smiles wide as she watches Kevin drive the digital car down the track in first place.

"Quit yacking!" Eddy yells from the cabinet next to Kevin, his car is sitting in fifth place.

Double D looks at the drivers in the other two cabinets that are part of the same track as Kevin and Eddy. Jonny is next to Eddy, in third place, and Ed is sitting next to him, somehow in second place.

"Eddy, how are you this bad at this game still?" Double D asks, unable to understand how Eddy is losing, and Ed is in second place.

Nazz leans on Kevin's chair. "I wanna know how Ed is in second place." She points over at Ed.

Double D looks over to Ed, his gaze is fixed on the screen in front of him, only blinking when needed. Double D has seen Ed like this only when video games, or a monster movie, were involved. When Ed is focused on something, he ignores everything else. Double D has a theory that Ed's brain can switch into a higher thought process when he wants to, and he is trying to find a way to get him to do that with school work.

"He's cheating!" Eddy yells as he rips his steering wheel to the side, sending his car spinning out.

"Or." Kevin says as he crosses the finish line. "He knows how to win at driving games." Kevin leans back in his seat, getting a quick kiss from Nazz.

"Stouty Ed Boy needs to learn to drive the TV car better." Rolf is leaning against the wall. Having no interest in playing any of the games, he is cleaning under his fingernails with a toothpick. "Just like his real car controlling, he is crazy." Everyone laughs at Rolfs comment, even Double D lets out a chuckle.

"Shut it!" Eddy pulls his head down out of embarrassment. "I want a rematch, but I want a different machine." He shoots up from his chair and marches over and rips Ed out of his.

"A different gaming machine won't make much of a difference Eddy." Double D says as he shakes his head.

"I'll race ya again." Kevin cracks his knuckles. "But you're paying."

Ed walks over and sits down in the chair Eddy was in and readies himself to race again.

Double D joins Nazz in watching the race from behind Kevin. "So." Nazz says quiet enough for only Double D to hear. "What did she say to you?" She asks, with a sly grin.

"Who?" Double D asks back, also keeping his voice down.

"A certain blue haired fast-food worker."

"Oh." Double D hoped that Nazz was just running away from Marie out of fear, not that she wanted to give him a chance to talk to her. "She just wanted to thank me for stopping Eddy from getting her in trouble with her manager."

Nazz grins wider, and drops her voice a little more. "And, maybe thanking you for a ride?"

Double D hides his shock at Nazz asking this. He assumed that no one saw him in the parking lot after school the day before, but he didn't exactly sweep the lot for onlookers as Marie got into his car. "I have no idea what you are talking about Nazz." He hopes that if he feigns ignorance that Nazz won't press the madder.

"Uh huh." Nazz clearly doesn't believe Double D. "Well I think it's, cute, that she's being nice to you."

"And I still have no idea what you are talking about Nazz."

* * *

Later that night, after Eddy lost all four of his rematches, Double D is laying in his bed reading his assigned book for his AP English class. The class is doing classical literature, and Double D is making his way through The Odyssey by Homer. Normally, he would be enjoying his assigned reading, but having to eat dinner alone earlier made him feel a little alone. He understands that his parents work important jobs, and that being away from home for days on end is part of job for them, but he still feels lonely when he is home alone sometimes. And as he thinks about being home alone, a strange thought comes to him, one that he has no idea where it came from. 'It must be nice, having siblings like Marie does.'

"Did, did I just get envious of Marie?" He sets his book down and sits up in bed. "Why do I keep thinking about her all of a sudden?" Double D starts to rack his brain, trying to find his answer, but he can't come up with a logical answer. The only thing he can think of is that the bite mark on his neck, that is still visible, being a temporary physical abnormality caused his subconscious to keep thinking about Marie.

"But, then why have the thoughts been pleasant ones… and not fearful ones?" He closes his eyes and falls back into his bed, still not understanding what his brain is doing.

* * *

Double D stays in that position, lying down on his bed with his eyes closed. He lets his mind wander, and it eventually goes to Marie, and all the uncountable times they have interacted. He thinks of the time the sisters sank their tire raft one summer, of the time Eddy tried to scam the kids of the Cul-de-sac with a wrestling ring in the construction site, and of the night that the sisters trapped and tied up Double D, Eddy, and Ed in the abandoned house and "married" them. Double D had a scar on his finger for years from the bolt nut Marie forced onto his finger, and as he thinks about it, he couldn't help but chuckle at that whole ordeal. 'Marie is devoted, I'll give her that.'

* * *

Double D sits at his desk, after having his breakfast and showering, ready to study for the whole day. He has a stack of notebooks and printouts sitting in front of him, he's even borrowed an AP Physics book from one of his teammates, he is going to sit at his desk and study all day for the competition.

He rubs his hands together and flips the book open, ready to dive into his task.

 ***Buzz buzz***

His phone vibrates on his desk.

 ***Buzz buzz***

He picks up his phone and sees an unknown number calling him. "Who could this be?" He wonders as he slides the phone icon over to the answer call option. "Hello, Eddward's phone, Eddward speaking." He says with the phone up to his ear.

"Hey, Double D…" Double D almost drops his phone at the sound of Marie's voice coming through his phone.

"Ma-marie!" He says shocked. "I was not expecting you to call me so soon."

"Yeah… I wasn't planning on it, but I need ta take ya up on that offer ya gave me." Double D can hear that uncertainty in Marie's voice, it's almost as if she didn't want to make this call.

"You… you need transportation?" Double D asks, feeling a bead of sweat run down his neck. "Has something happened?"

"No, nothing's happened… it's just, you're the only person I know that has a car."

"Ok…" Double D is getting confused. "So what do you need transportation from me for?"

"I need ta get something… and I know I can't carry it walking home."

Double D's problem-solving part of his brain kicks in, he is curious as to what Marie couldn't carry home on foot. "What do you need help transporting?"

Marie is silent on the line, and Double D is just about to ask if she is still there when he finally hears her say; "Promise not ta laugh at me?"

The question perplexes Double D. on the one and he would normally never laugh at a lady, but it is Marie he is talking to, not someone that has ever given him the courtesy. But he is still Double D in the end, so of course he wouldn't do that to even Marie. "I can assure you Marie, I will not laugh at you."

"I uh, need ta get a... bag of litter… for my cat."

Double D can see why this is something Marie Kanker would be a little embarrassed to ask for help with this. Not only is asking for any help a sign of weakness for a Kanker, but not having the physical strength to carry something is also a bad sign for them. "I see." Double D says. He starts to mull the request over in his head, and as he does, he looks down at his right hand, he can almost picture the scar that he once had on his ring finger.

"I know this is a stupid favor ta ask, but my Ma is at work all day, and it's my only day off from work, and my Ma doesn't want to see any cat crap on the floor." Marie pleads with Double D before using the one word Double D never thought he'd hear her ever use in a genuine manner. "Please Double D, you're the only one I can think of to ask."

Double D almost drops his phone again, but this time instead of it being from the surprise sound of Marie's voice, it is from the amazement of her plea for help from him. Never has she asked for his help, and that triggers his deep seeded good nature. "I was planning on studying all day." He looks down at the open book before him. "But I suppose I could give you the transportation home that you need once you have acquired your litter."

"That's, uh, something else I guess I need ta asks. I dunno where ta buy any exactly."

* * *

Double D feels a need to bang his head against his steering wheel as he waits to turn into the Park n' Flush trailer park. His kind heart and gentlemen ways has gotten him into giving Marie Kanker a ride to the local retail store. "This is sure to lead to a disaster." He says as the last car in the other lane passes by. "I am going shopping with my bully, and I offered to take her."

He makes his left turn and the increasingly annoying voice in his head speaks to him. 'But she said she was going to be nice to us, this could be a chance to actually get to know Marie Kanker past being a bully.' Double D doesn't respond to the voice in his head, only makes a note to look into the potential medical reasons as to why he keeps thinking about Marie in a different way.

He slowly drives his car through the trailer park, making sure not to hit anyone and to drag out the inevitable for as long as he could. But eventually he gets there, he's reached the sky blue trailer that is home to the Kanker family.

Sitting on the broken washing machine, holding her new official pet cat, Marie looks over at the sound of Double D's car and smiles. She hops off the machine and yells over to Double D; "Give me a minute!" Before running over to the trailer door. She pulls the door open and disappears inside.

Less than a minute later, Marie reemerges from the trailer and locks the door. As she walks to his car, Double D can see the faint skip she has in her step, and takes in the clothing options she chose for the day as he watches her walk. It's a warm day out, so it shouldn't be a surprise that Marie is in a spaghetti strap black tank top and dirty green cargo shorts, it's not much of a change in her normal attire. 'She has a look that she likes, and she can pull off that look.' The voice in his head says as Marie opens the passenger side door.

"Thanks so much Double D." Marie says as she sits down in the seat. "I've never had a pet before, so I'm shit at knowing what I need." The casual way she talks to Double D is unusual, there is no sign of sly of mischief in her voice.

Double D clears his throat. "It is no problem Marie." He responds. "I need to acquire a few thing for my trip anyway."

Marie hides her excitement from the shopping trip becoming longer than she thought it was going to be. "Still, you're being really nice, doing this for me." She says before adding only in her head; 'And you being nice is super cute.'

"Again, it is not a problem." He clears his throat again. "Now I need to inform you of my driving rules: Please refrain from talking unless it is absolutely necessary. The radio is to remain off unless during severe weather. Your seat belt must be fastened until we come to a complete stop. And lastly, the windows must remain up at all times."

"Ya don't want any distractions while drive do ya?" Marie asks as she pulls her seatbelt on.

"Any distraction increases the chance of an accident, and I fully intend to never have one."

* * *

Even with the near uncomfortable silence in the car, Marie is still having the time of her life. She is once again sitting in Double D's car, at his invitation, and more importantly they are off on a shopping trip together. 'Just be a good girl Marie, and we'll have an awesome day.' Marie tells herself as she starts drumming on her knees with her thumbs.

Double D hears the faint tapping of Marie's thumbs on her knees, but unlike he would with Eddy or Ed, he doesn't ask her to stop making the noise. And he is not sure why. 'She has shown a fondness for music.' The voice in his head says. 'We should ask her what kind is her preferred choice of listening.'

He shakes his head, again, trying to get the voice to go away.

Marie saw him shake his head and worries that something is wrong. "Are ya ok Double D?" She asks once they stopped at a red light.

"Nothing is ailing me, Marie." He answers. "Just disagreeing with my own thoughts."

Marie can't help it, she sees an opening for a joke. "Ah, the voice in your head, mine keep telling me ta burn things." She grins at her own joke. But Double D doesn't see it as a joke.

Double D looks over at Marie, taking his eyes off the road. "I hope you are joking Marie. Arson is a felony level crime."

Marie lets out a quick laugh, but doesn't respond, she only points at the traffic light as it turns green. Double D looks over and regrets looking away from the road, the light has changed and he is holding up traffic. "Oh dear." He quickly goes back to focusing on driving, ignoring the look on Marie's face.

The look on Marie's face is just a smile, but not her signature evil smile. No, this was an honest and happy smile. Marie is happy to be in Double D's car, and happy to have made a joke that Double D didn't scold her for.

* * *

Her smile stays for the rest of the car ride and the two teens remained quiet for the rest of the trip. But Marie doesn't care, just being this close to Double D is worth having to be quiet.

Double D pulls his car into an open parking spot. "We have arrived at our destination." He says as he kills the engine of his car. "You are now free to remove your safety restraints and exit the vehicle at your leisure." Double D says this line every time he transports someone in his car.

"And I'll make sure that my tray table is locked and my seat is in the upright position." Marie released her seatbelt and opens her door in one fluid motion.

It wasn't until now that Double D realizes that the line he says when driving sounds just like something a flight attendant would say at the end of a flight, and he is perplexed that he never saw it before. "THAT, is horribly embarrassing." He hangs his head in shame. While Double D normally doesn't care if the things he does is considered weird, or strange, having the mindset of a teenager makes him loathe anything that would be considered embarrassing. "I hope Eddy nor Ed have told people about this."

He gets out of his car, still feeling shameful, and spots Marie stretching her arms behind her head. She is not used to being in Double D's car, so even though she was excited about it, she was still really tensed up for the whole drive.

* * *

"Wow." Marie says as they walk through the automatic sliding doors. "This place is busy for a Sunday." The store is full of shoppers pushing carts of merchandise.

Double D walks over to the cart storage. "It is the day before the start of the work week, so naturally there would be a large number of shoppers."

Marie looks over to Double D, wanting to make another joke, but switches to a question. "Why the cart?" She asks as Double D pulls a shopping cart out of the row of them.

"I am guessing that you would rather not carry the bag of litter in your arms around the store like me, so we need the cart."

"Oh yeah, good call." Marie smiles at Double D. "I always say you're smarter than everyone thinks."

"Did- did you just compliment me?" Double D's eyes are wide, he's never heard Marie complement him like this.

Marie is confused by the look on Double D's face. "I did, why?"

Double D has regained some of his composure. "You've just never complimented me before."

"I'm sure I have." Marie argues back, remembering all the time that she has called him cute, or attractive.

Double D starts pushing the cart. "I don't recall ever getting a compliment from you that didn't have ulterior motives."

Marie opens her mouth to counter his claim, but she then remembers that every compliment that she recalls was done when she was tormenting Double D. She closes her mouth without responding and follows Double D into the store.

Walking down the pet aisles of the store, Marie is amazed that there are so many different kinds of cat foods. "Wow." She says with amazement in her voice. "There are more kinds of cat foods than hotdogs."

"It is a lucrative business." Double D says as they stop in front of the shelves of food.

Marie looks at the pricing of the bags of cat foods. "I should get some cat food, it's cheaper than cans of tuna."

"Canned tuna is unhealthy for cats if eaten frequently." Double D holds his finger up as he speaks. "You should get-" Double D just realizes that he doesn't know the name of Maier's cat. "What name did you choose for your pet Marie?"

Marie turns around to face Double D. "Oh, I named him Lucky, for the obvious reasons."

"It is a fitting name, given his luck."

"Yeap." Marie spins on her heels to face the shelves. "So… what kind of food should I get?"

"Well, if Lucky is still growing, then you should get food formulated for growing felines."

"The Good Doc said he still has some growing ta do, but he's not going ta get much bigger." Marie looks over the bags. "So I shouldn't get kitten stuff." She points at a bag with a small cat on the front. "So I guess growing kind is what I need."

"Logic dictates that to be the best option."

"Ya know." Marie says as she sets the bag of cat food into the cart. "I'm kinda surprised by how cool an calm ya are being around me."

"For every action, there is an equal reaction." Double D is actually on the edge of freaking out from being this close to Marie for this long, but he is staying strong.

Marie's eyes flash a mischievous light and she grins, her evil side is flaring up. "So." She leans closer to Double D. "If I were ta get too close, you'd get a little uncomfortable?" The tone of her voice has just a hint of her seduction in it.

Double D's face turns red and he steps away from the cart and Marie. "Pl-lease refrain from any of that." He stammers. "I am already well out of my comfort zone as is."

"Sorry." Marie leans back. "Can't help it sometimes."

Double D clears his throat, ignoring the warmth in his cheeks, and the speeding up of his heart. "Now, I believe the bags of litter are at the opposite end." He points before pushing the cart down the aisle.

Double D pushes the thoughts in the front of his mind into the back, he really doesn't want to think about what went through his head. When Marie leaned close to him, he didn't feel fear like he normally would, he felt excitement. Something in his head is changing, his fear of Marie is waning, while something else is taking its place, something that made him feel excited by Marie being close.

"Oh, my, god!" Marie stops walking and turns to the shelves. "Look at all of these toys!" She is standing in front of a display of toys for cats. She grabs a toy that is a wooden stick with a bundle of feathers attached to the end. "This is so silly." Marie waves the feather end around, acting more like a child than a young adult. She lets out a giggle at the toy, and then pokes Double D in the nose with it, giggling again.

Double D bats the toy away. "Marie." He says as she tosses the toy into the cart, choosing to buy it for Lucky. "Please refrain from doing that."

"Hee hee, sorry." Marie says, poking a fake mouse toy. "I guess I'm just a little over excited."

Double D starts pushing the cart again. "It is nice to see that you are excited about being a pet owner. But are fully prepared for the task?"

"I got this book." Marie says as she looks around at all the pet supplies on the aisle. "That's all about taking care of cats. First thing I gotta do is litter train Lucky."

"That is rather impressive of you Marie." Double D is impressed by Marie's devotion to taking care of a pet.

"I wanna make sure that I do this right." Marie says as they stop in front of the shelves full of bags of litter. "So cat litter is just bits of clay right?" She asks, poking a yellow bag on the shelf.

"Most of them are, though some are made from things, like corn, or Silica gel." Double D states, recalling the information he knows about cat litters.

"Neat." She continues to poke the bag. "So, like any kind would do then."

"Unless someone in your home has an allergy, then you should factor that into your choice."

Marie thinks, trying to remember if her sisters or mother is allergic to anything. "Well, my Ma has a problem with dust."

"Then the clay litters would be a bad choice. You should probably get a hypoallergenic brand then." Double D points at the bags of litter that wasn't made from clay.

Marie grabs a bag that says it's made from corn. "How do you know this about litter?"

"It is a good tool to use to clean up oil spills, and Eddy seems to think he knows how to change the oil in his Jeep without doing the research into how."

Marie sets the bag down into the cart. "So ya had ta bail him out, again?"

Double D leans his arms on the handle of the cart. "Multiple times."

Marie leans her back against the cart. "You're too good to them ya know. Ya give them a lot, and they give ya nothing."

"That's not true Marie." Double D stands up from the cart. "While yes I help them a lot with a wide range of things. Eddy and Ed were my friends when I had none, they have been there when I needed them. Through thick and thin, the three of us have been friends."

Marie looks over her shoulder at Double D. "Sounds like me an my sisters."

"How so?" Double D asks as Marie and him look at each other with no fear or aggression between them.

Marie smiles, not a flirty smile or a wicked one, just a simple smile. "We stick together and have each other's backs, no matter what we're Kankers for life."

Double D returns the smile. "I always forget how strong your bond of sisterhood is."

"Lee and May are da only friends I've ever had, that kind of lonely makes ya stick together."

Double D looks away, he feels bad that he's made friends as he grew up other than Eddy and Ed. "I'm sorry that you lived such a lonely life Marie."

Marie shrugs. "What doesn't kill ya, only makes ya stronger."

"By that logic, that would make you a very strong person."

Marie flexes her left arm and pats the muscle with her right hand. "Ya know it." She grins and starts to laugh.

Double D found himself laughing not at Marie, but with her. This is a first for Double D, he's never laughed with Marie before. Realizing that he is laughing with Marie, Double D stops himself and clears his throat.

"So, unless you needed to acquire anything else, I still need to gather the things I need"

"Well, I should get a few other things…"

* * *

It turned out that Marie didn't just need litter for Lucky, she also needed; a litter box, a food bowl, and a water bowl. Marie even looked at some of the cat climbing towers, but passed due to the cost.

"Man, this is going to push my ride plans back even more." Marie says as she looks at all the things she's put into the cart, she picked out a few more cat toys and a cat bed on the way out of the aisle.

"Ride plans?" Double D, asks pushing the cart out of the pet section of the store.

"I'm saving for a car." Marie clarifies. "But the vet bill took most of what I had saved up."

Double D leads them over to the Health and Beauty section of the store as they talk. "I see. Vehicles are expensive."

Marie crosses her arms behind her head as she follows Double D. "Yeah, I don't want anything fancy, just something that moves."

Double D turns down an aisle. "Is that why you started working at the food court in the mall?"

Marie shakes her head as she follows Double D down the aisle. "Na, I was working with my sisters at the diner my works at overnights, but they didn't need all three of us, so I chose to look for something else."

Double D stops in front of a display of travel size toiletries. "That is rather noble of you Marie."

"It's more of the curse of being the middle child." Marie looks at all the different brands of body wash as Double D picks out his shampoo and conditioner. "Here ya go." She grabs a bottle off the shelf and holds it out to Double D.

"I appreciate the help, but I have a specific brand-" Double D stops talking when he sees the bottle Marie is holding. "How do you know what kind of body wash I use?"

Marie grins. "So how long are ya gonna be gone on your trip?" She asks, ignoring Double D's question.

Double D takes the bottle from Marie. "Counting Monday, four days, returning Thursday night." He figures it is best that he doesn't learn how Marie knows what kind of body wash.

Marie looks at Double D with raised eyebrows. "Wow, damn near a whole week away from school. Never thought you'd be cool with missing that many days of school."

"It is a school-sanctioned function." Double D grabs the last few things he needs from the shelves and places them in the cart as he talks. "I will be taking a lot of tests and studying nearly nonstop when I am not competing. So I don't see it as missing days, but as alternative days of educating."

* * *

Marie couldn't help but grin as they walked through the store after Double D picked out the items he needed. This has been a near perfect day of shopping with Double D as far as she is concerned, and she only regrets that the trip is coming to an end.

As they walk out of the store, having paid for their purchases, Double D's phone starts to ring in his pocket. He pulls his phone out of his back pocket and answers the call without looking at who is calling. "Hello, Eddward's phone, Eddward speaking." His eyes shoot open in surprise. "Oh, hello Mother, how is your and Father's trip?" He asks as he holds a finger up to his lips at Marie, asking her to remain quiet as he is on the phone. "The grocery store? I can make a trip there, I am already out getting supplies for my trip. If you send me your list I can acquire them. Ok, yes, see you in the morning Mother. I love you too, goodbye." He ends the call and looks over to Marie, who remained quiet while he was on the phone. "So, I need to make a trip to the grocery store. I'll return you to your home before I go."

"Ya know." Marie pictures the route to the trailer park and then to the local grocery store in her head. "It would save ya gas if ya took me with ya."

Double D looks at Marie, contemplating this idea. 'She has been mostly well behaved.' He thinks. 'And saving gas is important.' He lets out a sigh. "It would be more fuel efficient to take you with me, but please continue to behave."

"Oh, I promise to be a, GOOD, girl." Marie grins before giggling.

Walking into the grocery store, Marie wonders if what they've been doing for the day is what normal grownup couples would do on the weekend. 'Going shopping with anyone other than Double D would be super boring.' She thinks to herself as Double D picks up a hand basket from a stack of them. 'I hope Double D is having as much fun as I am.'

Double D isn't having thoughts like Marie, he is focused on the list his mother sent to him on his phone. The list isn't very long, mostly items for Double D's father's lunches for the week and dinner for his parents Monday night.

Double D is looking at the list on his phone as the two teens walk through the store, and curious, Marie looks at the phone and reads the list;

3 large leaf bundles of Kale.

5 apples = in weight.

½ gal milk.

10 deli cuts of turkey.

10 deli cuts of swiss.

1lb green grapes.

Whole wheat spaghetti noodles.

2 jars of organic spaghetti sauce.

1 bottle of sparkling water.

"Damn." Marie says once she finished reading the list. "Your mom is super detailed in her shopping."

Double D tucks his phone into his back pocket, having memorized the list. "If you know me as well as you claim too, then you should know that my need to be detailed in everything I do, I learned from my Mother."

"Did, you just make a joke?" Marie asks as they walk into the produce section of the store.

"Did I?" Double D looks over at her. "If I did, I had no intention of doing so."

"Don't apologize for a joke." Marie states. "Unless ya said something horrible, but I know you'd never say anything like that. You're too kind-hearted ta do that"

"Thank you, Marie." Double D feels flattered by this. "That is rather nice of you to say."

Marie shrugs her shoulders. "I'm just saying what's true."

"Well still." Double D smiles as they stop in front of a table of red apples. "I appreciate the compliment."

* * *

Their time in the grocery store was short, Double D needed to get back home and get back to studying, so he told Marie not to distract him from sticking to his list. But that didn't stop her from trying. She wanted to look around the store for no reason other than Double D having to spend more time with her. She tried to get him to go down the candy aisle, into the small cafe in the far corner of the store, and even down the aisle with the magazines. But he stuck to his guns and is now standing in the checkout line with the basket full of the things his mother asked him to get.

Marie, standing behind Double D, looks around the checkout, looking for something to peak her short attention span she gets when she is stationary. Looking past the registers, Marie spots a stand of quarter machines. "Ooo, gumballs!" She exclaims. "I'm gonna get one." She leaves the line and makes her way to the stand.

Double D watches Marie walk away, and silence seems to fall around him, letting him hear the music playing over the radio system of the store; " _She doesn't own a dress, her hair is always a mess."_ He doesn't know the song, but the acoustic guitar and soft sounding vocals pulls him out of the moment, everything blurs in his vision, except for Marie. " _If you catch her stealin', she won't confess. She's beautiful_."

"Sir." the cashier pulls Double D back from his trance. "I need you to move up please." It's Double D's turn to check out.

"Terribly sorry." Double D says as he steps up to the register. "I was, distracted." He says as his cheeks turn red.

* * *

Being the gentleman that he is, Double D helps Marie by carrying the bag of litter to the trailer once they reached the Park n' Flush. "Thanks." Marie says as she tosses the shopping bags and the bag of cat food to the side of the door.

Double D sets the bag of litter down on the floor of the trailer. "Not a problem Marie." He looks around the trailer, hoping to see Lucky. "Where is Lucky?" He asks when he doesn't see Marie's cat.

Marie points over her shoulder with her thumb. "I locked him up in the bathroom."

Double D looks up the stairs to the second floor of the trailer. The trailer having a second floor is something he has found strange from day one, but he's never questioned it, not wanting to know why the trailer looks like a single floored building from the outside, but having two from the inside. "I see, well I should be going, I need to get my shopping home."

Double D steps backward out of the trailer and turns on his heels once outside. He needs to get home and start working on his preparation for his trip.

He left his phone sitting in his car when he went to help Marie with her things, so as he pulls his seatbelt across his chest he sees that he has some messages on his phone. He turns to look at the messages as a blue blur moves to his car.

"Hey, Double D." Marie bends down so she is at the same level as Double D sitting in his car.

"Yes Marie?" Double D pushes the button to lower his window as he reads the messages, they are from Eddy asking if he wants to come over to his house for dinner, Eddy's mothers made him ask.

"I just… I just wanna say thanks, again Double D, for helping me. And sorry for this."

"Sorry for what?" Double D turns his head to look at Marie, and gets the answer to his question.

Marie leans into the window and kisses him on his lips. It's a quick kiss, but it's nothing like the kisses she's given him in the past, it's a soft and warm kiss, with feeling behind it. The kiss stuns Double D and Marie runs away to the trailer before he has time to react.

* * *

His heart pounds for his whole drive back to the Cul-de-sac, and Double D is unable to think about anything other than Marie's lips touching his. He has no idea how many times Marie has forced kisses onto him in the past, but never have they left him feeling like this. His heart is racing, his cheeks burn, and his palms are slick with sweat.

"What in the name of Galileo is happening to me?" He demands as one of the bags of his mother's groceries nearly slips out of his hand.

* * *

Try as he might, Double D couldn't rid himself of what seems to be ailing him as he went about his tasks for that night. His hands stayed sweaty, even after washing them before making a cold sandwich for dinner, he declined the invitation from Eddy, not wanting to be gone for too long. His face is still warm even after a cold shower, and his heart still pumps faster than his body needs it too as he tries to read from his textbook.

It got to the point that Double D gave up on trying to get any studying done, and focused on packing his things he bought into his duffle bag he's had ready for a week for his trip. "We need to shake, whatever this is, if we are going to perform at our best for the competition Eddward." He tells himself as he zips the pocket closed on his bag that has his toiletries in. "Marie has never done anything like this to us in the past, what has changed that caused this reaction to a kiss?"

Double D doesn't understand what his body is trying to tell him, that through impossible odds, his opinion about Marie is changing, that she isn't just a bully in his eyes anymore, that he subconsciously sees her differently now.

He spends the rest of the night trying to understand what is happening to him, and adds to the phenomenon why when thoughts of Marie enters his mind that the symptoms increase. He stayed up later than he should have thinking this over, that by the time that he did fall asleep, that his mind was too exhausted to even dream.

* * *

"Good morning Eddward." Double D is greeted by his mother as he walks into the kitchen the next morning. "Your father couldn't stay awake to come with to drop you off at school, so he's gone to bed." Double D's mother says before taking a drink from a paper travel cup.

His parents took a redeye flight home that morning just so they could see Double D off for the state finals, and even though his father couldn't stay awake, it's still nice to have them home, adding back a sense of normality after the weekend he had. "It is quite alright Mother. Did the conference go well?" He asks as he sets his duffle bag down on one of the chairs at the table in the kitchen.

"I think so." His mother takes another drink of what is most likely coffee. "But we won't see any effects of it until Wednesday at the earliest, and I personally don't expect any calls until Friday. But only time will tell."

* * *

The drive to Peach Creek High is just as quiet as if Double D was driving his friends, and not being driven by his mother. Like her son, Double D's mother wants nothing to distract her as she drove her car down the road. But the quiet isn't a bad thing, it gives Double D the chance to think. He comes to the conclusion that the symptoms he had the night before were because of Marie, and it wasn't because she got him sick, it was because he finally put two and two together and figured out that it was a form of attraction to the blue haired girl that caused his rough night.

'We just need to talk to about this.' He thinks. 'It simply is because we spent more time than normal with her, and we were both out of our element. Once she's back to her dark ways this, thing, will just pass. It was just a biological reaction, an influx of hormones, nothing more, and nothing less.' The logic and science-driven portions of his mind states, but that isn't the only part of his mind that is working on this conundrum. 'If we see her again before we leave, I hope she'll wear her perfume again, it smells nice.' This came from the same voice he's been trying to ignore for several days now, a voice that is becoming harder to ignore.

"Are you feeling ok Eddward? You look a little red?" His mother looks over at him as she comes to a red light and sees his cheeks were redder than they were earlier that day.

"I am fine Mother." Double D tries to calm his heart from beating any faster. "I was just, thinking, about the competition and was feeling a little anxious."

Double D's mother doesn't fully believe him, she may not be a spring chicken anymore, but she still remembers what it was like to have a new fire in her heart, and that is what she sees in her son now. "I see." She says as the light changes green for her. "Well, just so you know Eddward, you can always talk to me, or your father about anything, even if you think it too embarrassing to talk with your parents about."

Double D finds this offer strange. "I know Mother, and I appreciate that you and Father are there if I need to talk."

* * *

"Your father and I will be here Thursday night to bring you home Eddward." Double D's mother says as she pats him on the shoulder. "Have a good trip and a good competition Son."

"Thank you, Mother." Double D smiles as his mother pats him. "I will let you know when we get to the hotel."

His mother takes her hand off of his shoulder. "I will try and be awake for your call, but I might sleep through it."

"I understand Mother, I will leave a message if you are sleeping."

"Good, now you need to get going, the rest of your team is getting onto the bus."

Double D turns away from his mother and moves to stand with the rest of his team to get onto the bus.

Wanting to prevent any unwanted items from being taken with the contestants, each student has to have their bag looked through before being let onto the bus, so Double D is waiting as the few other contestants get checked before him. It's mostly parents and teachers around the bus seeing the contestants off, but there are a few students there as well. Most of the students Double D doesn't know, but he does recognize one of the three cheerleaders that are by the bus, cheering for the team.

Nazz spots Double D and waves at him before saying; "Go get them Double D! Bring home that state championship!"

Double D waves back and was going to respond, but he stops when he smells something. The smell of fresh cut spring flowers strewn across a babbling brook with a hint of lemon hits Double D, and he turns around to find Marie walking up to him. "Oh… good morning Marie."

Marie has her hands behind her back. "Hey." She looks down and away from Double D. "I was hoping ta catch ya."

"You were?" Double D asks as his duffle bag is taken from him.

"Yeah." Marie starts to rock back and forth on her heels. "I wanted ta see ya, ya know, before ya left."

Her perfume is affecting Double D, the symptoms from the night before are coming back. "You did? Why?"

"I just, well I thought." Marie's cheeks start to turn red as she fumbles for the right words. "You're gonna be on a bus for a long time. And I thought, if you wanted it, that maybe you'd like snacks."

"Snacks?" His heart is pounding in his chest and he couldn't look away from Marie even if he wanted too.

"Yeah, I uh, made ya a sandwich." Marie pulls her hands from behind her back, revealing that she has a plastic bag in her hands. "And some other things…" Her face is redder than it has ever been, and her heart pounds in her chest.

Double D can't help but find Marie's gesture cute, and embraces what the new voice in his head is telling him to do. He takes a step to her and takes the bag from her and says; "Marie."

Marie raises her head up to look at him, their eyes meet and Double D lifts her chin up with his free hand and leans down and kisses her. He is letting go of logic and reason, embracing what his heart is telling him to do, regardless of the consequences that may come.

It's a good thing that Double D took the bag from her before he followed what his emotions were telling him to do, because Marie's eyes spring open and her hands shoot off to the side out of shock.

Double D pulls away from Marie, not regretting what he's just done. "I need to go now Marie." he says stepping backward.

"I, I, you, me, we…" Marie is shocked, as are the people who saw Double D kiss Marie, she is at the point of exploding her face is so red.

Double D smiles at Marie, she is still standing where he left her, she looks at him touching her lips, she is still trying to process what just happened. "I hope to see you when I return." He says before climbing onto the bus.

* * *

Double D sits near the back of the Greyhound bus, looking out the window lost in thought. He is thinking about what he's just done, and what may come from it. He still has no regrets from kissing Marie, looking back on it he actually enjoyed the feeling of their lips touching, it was like fireworks going off inside his head. What he is wondering is what is going to come from this. He isn't sure which way Marie is going to swing from this, she could either want to punch him from touching her, or she could be waiting in a white dress for him to get off the bus when he returns on Thursday. He himself isn't sure what he wants from what he's done. 'Logically, I should sit down with Marie and talk to her, figure out where we can go from here.' He thinks. 'I do hope that she wants something.'

His stomach rumbles, signaling that it's a good time to look at what Marie gave him. He was riding the high of the kiss when he got onto the bus so much that he sat the bag down on the empty seat next to him and failed to look inside of it. He moves the bag onto his lap and looks inside. Right away he sees the sandwich she mentioned wrapped in plastic wrap. Under the sandwich is the rest of Marie's snacks, a plastic baggie of tater tots, a candy bar, and an apple. He takes the items out of the bag one at a time, smiling wider as he pulls each item out, but as he takes the apple out of the bag, he sees that there is a folded piece of paper in the bottom of the bag. Double D pulls the paper out and sets the bag to the side. He unfolds the paper and sees that it's a handwritten note from Marie.

"Double D, I wanted to write this down in case I can't say it to you in person. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life, I had a lot of fun with you shopping, and I hope that maybe we could do it again. I know I've been a bitch to you over the years, but I hope that we could wipe the slate, start from somewhere better than we are now. Good luck on your trip, and have fun, and I hope I see you when you get back."

Double D chuckles as he folds up the letter to put it away in his back pocket. "Well I guess I am going to have an interesting time when I get home."

"So what did your girlfriend give you?" One of the older students that is on the team leans over the back of the chair in front of Double D.

"I'm sorry?" Double D asks.

"I saw your girlfriend give you a bag before you got on the bus, so what did she give you? Oh, lunch, cool." The other boy spots the food next to Double D.

Double D looks over at his food gifts from Marie. "She did give me food, but Marie isn't my girlfriend."

"Uh-uh." The boy says. "Well, when a girl gives you a lunch bag and you kiss her for it, that means there is something there more than just friendship." The boy turns around and sits back down in his seat, leaving Double D alone with his lunch and his thoughts.

* * *

After getting ten messages on his phone from Eddy in one hour after arriving at the hotel, all are unimportant, Double D decides that he should just leave his phone on silent and leave it in the hotel room he is sharing with three other students. So when he gets back from dinner Tuesday night, he looks at his phone to see if Eddy has broken his record of thirty messages in one day. There were only twenty messages from Eddy, most asking for help with homework questions, but there are also three from Nazz as well.

Curious, Double D opens the messages from Nazz.

"Hey DD, so Marie asked me to take a picture and send it to you." reads the first message. The second message is a picture of Marie smiling wide, holding her hands up in the shape of a heart. The third is another text message. "I think you broke her with that kiss, she's been acting far too cheerful lately."

Double D chuckles at the third message before he goes back to the picture of Marie and smiles as he looks at it. He actually misses Marie, and eagerly awaits when he can see her again. "I'm glad things have changed." He tells himself as he lays down on his bed. "I think life is going to become a lot more interesting from here."

* * *

Epilog.

The final lightning round of questions was intense, but alas, Peach Creek High failed to answer a question on quantum physics correctly, earning them second place in the Academic Decathlon. Second place isn't what they were hoping for, but it still put them as some of the best students in the whole state of Oregon, and will look good on college applications.

"You all did amazingly this week." The AP Science teacher, the coach of the Academic Decathlon team, says as the students board the bus home. "I couldn't ask for a better team, and I am sure everyone back home is going to be just as proud of you as I am."

"With a little more studying and practice, we'll win next year." A student says from the back of the bus.

The teacher points to the student that spoke up. "Bradley has the right attitude, next year will be our year."

* * *

The drive back to Peach Creek seemed to take longer than the drive out, but that is due to the passengers on the bus being tired and ready to get home, and none are more ready to be home than Double D. For the whole trip he looks at the picture of Marie on his phone and thinks about what he is going to tell her when he sees her next. He thought about looking up a classical poem to tell her to express the feelings in his heart, but he realized that is something that Marie wouldn't care for, she is a simple girl after all.

By the time that the bus pulls into the school parking lot, Double D has come to the conclusion that he should just tell her what he feels and hope that she feels the same. 'I'm sure I'll see her first thing tomorrow morning when I get to school.' He thinks as the bus stops.

Walking off the bus, Double D sees the parents and guardians of his teammates there to pick them up, but to his surprise, he sees a blue-haired girl looking right at him as he steps off the last step.

"Hey." Marie says as he walks over to her with his duffle bag in hand.

"Good evening Marie, this is a surprise." Double D says as he sets the bag down on the ground.

"A good surprise?" Marie asks as both teens hearts start to pick up speed.

Double D smiles. "Very, I didn't think I would see you until tomorrow."

"I wanted ta see ya as soon as I could, so I traded my shift at work ta get the night off." She cups her hands together in front of herself. "So, did ya miss me?"

Double D spots his Mother and Father walking in his direction, he doesn't have much time to talk to Marie. "I did, and I need to tell you something Marie."

"Ya can tell me anything Double D."

Double D takes Marie's hands with his and then inhales a quick deep breath to calm himself. "I find myself liking you Marie, and I am sure you feel the same for me. I don't have much free time, and I know nothing on the proper Etiquette, but I would very much like to pursue something more than just friendship with you. If you are willing to join me."

Marie pulls him to her by their joined hands and kisses him, giving him her answer in her own way. "I hope that's a good enough answer." She says once they brake the kiss.

"Very." Double D says, still holding one of Marie's hands his parents reach the teens.

"Welcome home Son." His mother says smiling at him.

"Who is your friend Eddward?" His father asks.

Double D looks from his parents, to Marie, and then back to his parents. "This is Marie." He says, deciding that there is nothing wrong with telling them the truth. "My girlfriend." Marie squeezes his hand, excited over the title he's just given her.

"Oh." His mother says excitedly. "It is very nice to meet you Marie."

"I didn't know you had a lady friend Son." His father adds.

Double D looks back to Marie. "It is a more recent development."

Marie smiles at Double D's parents. "We actually weren't going ta make it official until after the Academic Decathlon was over." It's not a complete lie to his parents. "Ya know, him needing ta focus on training and preparing for the competition without any distractions."

"That was very selfless of you Marie." His mother says as his father picks up the duffle bag.

"Do you have a ride home Marie?" His mother asks.

Marie shakes her head. "Na, but it isn't that far of a walk."

"It is not safe for a young lady to walk home at night." Double D's father gestures to the family's car. "Let us give you a ride."

* * *

Marie sits behind Double D's mother in the back seat of the car, still holding Double D's hand. She really doesn't want to let go of him, even when they reached the entrance to the Park n' Flush.

"I'll see you in the morning then Marie." Double D says, looking over to his recently declared girlfriend.

Marie looks up at the front of the car, his parents are intentionally looking away from the back seat of the car. Knowing that they are free from prying eyes, she leans over and gives Double D a quick kiss. "Yeah, I'll see ya in the morning, Boyfriend. School is going to be so much fun now."

Double D smiles, he is already enjoying the feeling of Marie kissing him with only compassion driving the action. "I think, that a lot more than just school is going to be fun now Marie."

"You're right." She leans over and gives him another quick kiss. "Everything is going ta be fun, and I can't wait for it."

Double D smiles. "Me too Marie."

The End.

AN: Ello All, so I've been sitting on this one for a while now, saving it for when I got something done, and done I have. I've finished my original idea short story, and I'm using this Double D and Maire Fic to let you know about it. I can't use direct links to it here, but if you go over to Fictionpress dot com, and search for my username here (Linken88) as a writer there, you'll find my profile with a link to my new story. If you have the time please give it a read, I've been working on this off and on all year and I hope you'll enjoy it.

Until next time, keep being awesome.

Linken88.


End file.
